Inventory of the William Page Papers, 1783-1825
Collection Number 1254
Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Collection Information
- Contact Information:
- Manuscripts Department
- CB#3926, Wilson Library
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
- Phone: 919/962-1345
- Fax: 919/962-3594
- Email: mss@email.unc.edu
- URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/
Back to Top
Descriptive Summary
- Repository
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
- Creator
- Page, William, 1764-1827.
- Title
- William Page Papers, 1783-1825
- Call Number
- 1254
- Language of Materials
- Materials in English
- Extent
-
- Items: About 2500
- Linear Feet: 3.0
Back to Top
Administrative Information
- Alternate Form of Material
- All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of the Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series J.
- Preferred Citation
- [Identification of item], in the William Page Papers #1254, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Copyright Notice
- Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
- Cater, Benjamin F., fl. ca. 1800.
- Cater, Thomas, fl. 1780-1803.
- Colonel's Island (Ga.)--History.
- Commission merchants.
- Cotton trade--Georgia.
- Dopson, Joseph, d. ca. 1796.
- Glynn County (Ga.)--History.
- Page, William, 1764-1827.
- Plantation owners--Georgia.
- Retreat Plantation (Ga.)
- Ross, Hugh, fl. 1801-1816.
- Saint Simons Island (Ga.)--History.
- Slavery--Georgia.
- Timmons, John, d. ca. 1790.
Related Collections
-
Thomas Butler King Papers (#1252)
William Audley Couper Papers (#3687)
Biographical Note
Major William Page was a native of South Carolina. His title came from service with General Frances Marion in the American Revolution. Page and his wife, Hannah Timmons Page, moved to Georgia in the 1790s. They lived first in Bryan County, and then moved to St. Simons Island. Page managed plantations belonging to Pierce Butler until 1802, when Butler found a replacement in Roswell King. The Pages then bought and began development of James Spalding's plantation on the southern end of St. Simons. This plantation, which they named "Retreat," was eventually passed on to Page's only child, Anna Matilda Page, d. 1859, who in 1824 married Thomas Butler King. Page also bought other land in Georgia, including Colonel's Island.
Back to TopCollection Overview
This collection consists primarily of business papers of William Page. The bulk of the papers deals with the business of shipping and marketing Page's cotton. There are letters, accounts, bills, and receipts of commission merchants in Savannah, Georgia, and Liverpool, England. Additional papers concern the affairs, especially the shipping and marketing of cotton, of estates for which Page was executor, particularly the estate of Thomas Cater. Only a few items in this collection document Page's family and personal life, the actual cultivation of crops on his plantation, or the lives or work of slaves or overseers on the plantation.
Back to TopArrangement of Collection
-
Series 1. Correspondence
Subseries 1.1. 1786-1812
Subseries 1.2. 1813-1815
Subseries 1.3. 1816-1825
Subseries 1.4. Undated
Series 2. Financial and Legal Papers
Series 3. Other Papers
Items Separated
-
OP-1254/1-2.
Detailed Description of the Collection
1. Correspondence, 1786-1825 and undated.
About 1000 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Back to Top
1.1. 1786-1812.
About 500 items.
Chiefly business correspondence of William Page from merchants, neighbors, and relatives. The earliest letters are letters
in 1786 and 1787 of James Belcher, Savannah, to John Scott, Charleston, about ownership of Colonel's Island. In the 1790s
there are letters of Joseph R. Dopson and Thomas Cater to William Page. Page later became executor of the estates of both
men.
The major correspondents in the years before 1813 were Hugh Ross, commission merchant of Savannah, who wrote about the sale
of Page's crops and purchase of supplies for Page; Joseph Clark of Sapelo Island, who wrote about the estate of Thomas Cater;
and William Timmons of Charleston, South Carolina, a cousin of Page's wife, who wrote to Page about business in South Carolina.
Beginning in 1809, there is considerable correspondence about shipping and marketing cotton. Much of this correspondence deals
with the embargo law and the difficulty of trade between England and the United States. A letter from Harrison and Latham
Co. of Liverpool dated 1 May 1809, for example, expresses the hope that the non-intercourse bill would be repealed and direct
trade between the United States and Great Britain would be reopened. During the years 1809, 1810, and 1811, there is correspondence
indicating that Page shipped his cotton to England by way of Amelia Island, Florida. Letters from Harrison and Latham and
from B.& I. Gray Co. of Liverpool advised Page of the prices of cotton and other American produce in Great Britain. A letter
from Rudolphus Bogert, a New York merchant from whom Page purchased goods, advised Page in December 1811 that New York was
not a good market for Sea Island cotton.
Letters from Joseph Clark to William Page in 1804 concern the estate of Thomas Cater. In 1805, Page agreed to manage the plantation
belonging to the estate of Cater. There are a few letters in 1810-1812 concerning the education of Benjamin F. Cater, for
whom Page was appointed guardian late in 1811.
Folder
11786-1802
Folder
21803-1804
Folder
31805
Folder
41806
Folder
5-61807
Folder
7-81808
Folder
9-131809
Folder
14-181810
Folder
19-211811
Folder
22-251812
Back to Top
1.2. 1813-1815.
About 200 items.
Primarily letters from, to, or about William Page's ward, Benjamin F. Cater. Cater had been sent to school in New Jersey in
1810, first at Bordenton, then at Morristown. Before 1813, a few letters about Cater were mixed in with Page's business correspondence.
During the years 1813, 1814, and 1815, there is little business correspondence and much correspondence concerning the education,
expenses, and problems of Benjamin Cater. In one notable letter dated 12 May 1813, William Page advised Cater of the importance
of education to his future and advised him on the course of his career. Letters in 1814 and 1815 document the difficulty of
finding a position in a mercantile business during these war years. From September 1814 through 1815, the majority of the
letters deal with Benjamin Cater's problems arising from a paternity case against him.
Folder
26-271813
Folder
28-291814
Folder
30-351815
Back to Top
1.3. 1816-1825.
About 300 items.
Chiefly business correspondence, along with limited personal correspondence, of William Page. Following the end of the War
of 1812, Page's business correspondence resumed. The major correspondents are John McNish, merchant of Savannah, and William
Christie of Liverpool, England. The main subjects of the correspondence are the purchase of supplies and the price and shipping
of cotton from Georgia to England.
Three notable letters dated 19 June, 1 August, and 14 August 1817 from Samuel Boyd, Page's overseer on Colonel's Island, to
Page in New York report on the weather, the health of the slaves, and the crops at Colonel's Island and at St. Simons.
Letters and a copy of an advertisement of a reward in 1818 and 1819 document Page's efforts to recover two runaway slaves.
Correspondence between Anna Matilda Page and B. King and Co. of Darien, Georgia, in 1822 and 1823 about lumber and other supplies
for the plantation is also included. At the time these letters were written William Page was apparently in New York and Newport,
Rhode Island. Additional correspondence of Anna Matilda Page King and letters of William Page to her from New York and Newport
may be found in the Thomas Butler King Papers (#1252), Series 1. Additional correspondence of William Page is in the William
Audley Couper Papers (#3687).
Folder
36-401816
Folder
41-431817
Folder
44-451818
Folder
461819
Folder
471820-1821
Folder
481822
Folder
491823
Folder
501824-1825
Back to Top
1.4. Undated
4 items.
Undated letters and fragments. One is a short letter from Anna Matilda Page to her mother. The others concern purchases of
a coat and a machine, and problems with mail service to and from St. Simons and Jekyll Island.
Folder
51Undated letters and fragments
Back to Top
2. Financial and Legal Papers, 1790-1822 and undated.
About 1500 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Accounts, invoices, bills, receipts, other financial papers, and legal papers of William Page and of the estates which he
administered. These papers are filed chronologically by the latest date on them. Business correspondence, including correspondence
with accounts or other financial material enclosed, is filed in Series 1, Correspondence.
Nearly all of the papers for the period 1790 1800 are papers of the estate of Joseph R. Dopson in the Beaufort District of
South Carolina. These include accounts for sales of rice in Charleston, an inventory of the estate dated 8 July 1796, a bill
for jailing a runaway slave, tax receipts, and other papers. A few papers of the Dopson estate may be found in later years.
In files for the late 1790s are a few papers of the estate of John Timmons, including an
"appraisement of Negroes belonging to the estate of John Timmons at the request of William Page, one of the executors," dated 19 April 1798.
In files for the late 1790s are a few papers of the estate of John Timmons, including an
"appraisement of Negroes belonging to the estate of John Timmons at the request of William Page, one of the executors," dated 19 April 1798.
Financial and legal papers relating to the estate of Thomas Cater and to Page's guardianship of Benjamin Cater begin in 1804
and continue until 1818. Benjamin Cater's release to Page as executor and administrator of the estate is dated 23 March 1818.
Page's dismissal from executorship is dated 1 May 1818.
Bills from Hugh Ross for household and plantation supplies are found in files from 1801 through 1816. Page purchased tools,
blankets, gunpowder, medicine, toys, brandy, shoes, boots, and other goods through Ross. Although Page did business primarily
with Hugh Ross, there are also bills for supplies bought from other merchants, including George Harral in Darien, Andrew Low
in Savannah, George Abbott in Frederica, Alexander Habersham in Savannah, Isaac Abrahams in Brunswick, Small & McNish in Savannaah,
Andrew Manson in Brunswick, and Rudolphus Bogert in New York. After 1816, Page did business primarily with John McNish of
Savannah.
Ross's account of 4 May 1803 shows that he sold cotton in Liverpool and rice in London for Page. The majority of Ross's accounts
with Page show sales of cotton on Page's behalf or on behalf of the estate of Thomas Cater, which Page administered. There
are also some accounts of British firms for cotton sold for Page & Ross. There are accounts with Harrison Nephew & Co. in
Manchester, England in 1805 and 1806, and with various merchants in Liverpool, including Harrison & Latham, B. & I. Gray,
Gray and Wilson, and William Christie, for sales of cotton. Receipts for cotton from masters of ships sailing to England are
also filed with financial and legal papers.
Throughout the financial and legal papers are bills, receipts, and accounts of Page as treasurer of the Academy of Glynn County.
Page's tax returns for 1804-5-6 filed in 1806 and for 1809, and his return for himself and those for whom he acted as agent
in 1811 indicate the amount and value of the property Page owned and managed.
Page's purchase of Colonel's Island and his payments are documented by a memorandum of agreement between Page and Leighton
Wilson dated 31 May 1811 and by receipts for payments to Wilson in later years. Also included is a memorandum of agreement
between Page and Samuel Boyd in 1812 in which Boyd agreed to manage Page's Colonel's Island planting concerns.
An advertisement of 17 November 1818 offered a reward of $350 for return of a runaway slave.
Undated financial and legal papers include bills, receipts, and accounts, legal papers related to the Cater estate, a few
bills of Miss Page and Mrs. Page, a list of house expenses and Negro expenses, and a paper titled "Estimated Value of Hampton & Butlers Island."
Folder
521790-1794
Folder
531795-1796
Folder
541797-1798
Folder
551799-1800
Folder
561801-1802
Folder
571803-1804
Folder
581805
Folder
59-601806
Folder
611807
Folder
621808
Folder
63-691809
Folder
70-751810
Folder
76-801811
Folder
81-871812
Folder
88-911813
Folder
92-951814
Folder
96-1011815
Folder
102-1041816
Folder
105-1061817
Folder
107-1111818
Folder
1121819
Folder
113-1141820
Folder
1151821
Folder
116-1181822
Folder
1191823
Folder
1201824-1825
Folder
121-122Undated
Back to Top
3. Other Papers, undated.
3 items.
Folder
123Description of boats' sprit sails, instructions for painting the roofs of houses, and list of stops on the northern route
to Milledgeville
Back to Top